Ivanpah-Providence Road

In Rossiter, 1872, p. 169, the mines were connected to California via the Old Salt Lake Route. A new road was "under construction" to connect Potosi with the Colorado River, crossing the "Opal Mountains" (McCullough Range) to the Colorado River. The road would follow the river to Fort Yuma. This road is entirely in Nevada, but connects with a trail following the Colorado which Wheeler reported upon in his 1871 exploration from the El Dorado Canyon area to the Virgin River. Ores from this area apparently were hauled to Cottonwood Island for transshipping by steamer (Piute Company prospectus, p. 15).

Early maps of the period (GLO Survey, 1865) show wagon roads meeting at Ivanpah from several directions. Cottonwood Island was reached via El Dorado Canyon. Wagons from Ivanpah could join the "Opal" Mountain road by crossing Ivanpah Dry Lake, or head more directly toward the canyon via a road leading southeast to connect with the Old Government Road near Piute Springs (see above, Government Road section). In the late 1870's then, a road did connect with the north and south routes across the California desert.

Cultural Resources of the California Desert,
1776 -1880 -- Historic Trails and Wagon Roads
Elizabeth von Till Warren & Ralph J. Roske
1981 cultural Russell L. Kaldenberg, Series Editor

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